Bea Alonzo recently bared alleged troll farms trying to buy out her fan accounts, particularly those with a large following, after the permanent shutdown of her home network.
In an Instagram story on July 19, Alonzo shared screenshots of private messages from her fans who reported that some unknown individuals offered to buy their accounts for undisclosed amounts.
“Had to post this. Woke up to these messages from my supporters. I wonder why these people would offer to buy these accounts all of a sudden? For what?” Alonzo asked.
She also disclosed that some fan accounts of other Kapamilya stars have also received the same offers.
“Also heard that different fan groups of different ABS-CBN artists received the same offer today. You be the judge,” Alonzo said.
The fans, however, said they would not give in to the offers.
One fan said: “Don’t worry, Ms. Bea. We will never leave you. Laban tayo hanggang dulo! We love you!”
Another fan said: “I think may kakaibang balak sila but don’t worry di po kami magpapadala sa mga sinasabi nila. We love you.”
Alonzo is also vocal in supporting her home network. She has been posting hopeful messages during the previous franchise hearings to back ABS-CBN and her colleagues.
A day after Alonzo’s post, actress Angel Locsin, vocal defender of embattled ABS-CBN, likewise took to Instagram story to share that she also received a report of similar offer.
Like Alonzo, Locsin was also puzzled by the sudden offer to fan accounts
“Sabi nga ni Bea, you be the judge,” the Darna actress said.
“What’s happening???” she also asked.
The motive behind the offers were not disclosed in the screenshots reported to the actresses.
However, these alleged offers came on the same weekend when Alonzo, Locsin and their fellow Kapamilya stars like Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla joined the noise barrage and protest staged in front of ABS-CBN’s headquarters.
Poll strategy?
In a report of CNN Philippines, a cybersecurity expert said purchasing fan pages with huge following could be a strategy for the upcoming 2022 elections citing that these accounts can help hasten spread of information.
“There are troll operators right now who might be preparing already for the next election. Whoever has the most number of followers in fan pages, they could probably get a huge amount of payment also, every time they post something on a specific candidate,” Angel Rodable told CNN Philippines.
“Buying a fan page, will immediately, if you want to disseminate something whether true or fake, you can do that in one post in a fan page,” he also said in the report.
